Embodiments of the present specification relate generally to a compressor, and more particularly to a system and method for conditioning flow of a wet gas stream that is provided to the compressor.
Typically in an oil and gas production system, natural gas is extracted from an oil and gas well and provided to one or more compressors in the production system. It may be noted that the natural gas is a wet gas having one or more liquid components in the form of droplets. These liquid droplets may have a significant amount of liquid volume fraction, which results in erosion or embrittlement of impellers in the compressors. Particularly, erosion is known to be a function of a relative velocity of the droplets during impact onto the compressor surfaces, droplet mass size, as well as the impact angle. Also, the erosion of the impellers disadvantageously results in performance degradation, reliability issues, reduced compressor lifetime, and increased maintenance requirements.
In a conventional system, a large tank known as a liquid-gas separator is positioned upstream of the compressors. This liquid-gas separator is used to separate the liquid droplets from a natural gas stream that is extracted from the oil and gas well. After separating the liquid droplets, the natural gas stream is provided to the compressors for further processing of the natural gas. However, currently available liquid separation systems and techniques tend to be complex, thereby resulting in exacerbation of maintenance issues related to the compressors and the system.